The 200 km long Elfstedentocht, organised by the De Friesche Elfsteden association, has existed for over 100 years. The first organised skating race was organised on 2 January 1909, and the last one on 4 January 1997. Back then, almost 17,000 people completed the 200...
The capital of Friesland Leeuwarden, in Frisian ‘Ljouwert’, European Capital of Culture in 2018, is since 1524 the capital of Friesland. The city has more than 500 monuments worthy of seeing and has always had distinguished and relative wealthy residents. The rich and...
Sneek: Small Amsterdam Just like Amsterdam, Sneek is both transected and surrounded by canals. Indeed Sneek has many similarities with the capital of the Netherlands, although of course this comparison flounders because Sneek is many times smaller, plus it is...
The wood city of Friesland Until deep into the 20th century nearly everything in IJlst was centered upon wood. Wooden skates (houtjes), planes and chisels with wooden handles and wooden toys fabricated by Nooitgedagt (1865-1975). And, of course, wooden ships. This...
A real gem The fortress settlement of Sloten, which is also referred to as the ideal renaissance town due to its regular shape, was an independent municipality with its own council until 1984. It now belongs to the municipality De Fryske Marren. Sloten was founded in...
Hanzestad full of wonderful stories In 1061 Stavoren was officially granted town privileges. For centuries it had been an important trading town. The little woman of Stavoren [Vrouwtje van Stavoren] is a legend about a wealthy merchant’s widow who is held responsible...
